Colleagues remember the 40-year-old driver who was one of 21 victims of the tragic bus accident in Venice.
- A bus accident in Mestre, near Venice in Italy, killed 21 people, including bus driver Alberto Rizzuto.
- The bus fell ten meters from a bridge and then caught fire. There were about 40 tourists on board.
- Among the dead was newly married Croatian Antonella, who was on her honeymoon and was pregnant. Her husband survived but was seriously injured.
- Other victims included nine people from Ukraine, as well as individuals from Romania, Germany, Portugal, South Africa and Croatia. There were no Norwegians on the bus.
- Nearly 15 people were seriously injured in the accident, and many of them are now fighting for their lives in various hospitals.
-He was an experienced and conscientious driver. We don’t really understand what could happen.
That’s what colleagues of 40-year-old Alberto Rizzuto, who died in a bus accident outside Venice on Tuesday evening, say. La Repubblica.
The bus he was driving fell off a bridge in Mestre, nine kilometers outside Venice. According to the local newspaper, the fall was about ten meters high Corriere del Veneto. The bus is then said to have caught fire.
The accident claimed the lives of 21 people, almost all of them foreign tourists who were on their way home from a trip. The exception was Italian Rizzuto from the Treviso region, who was the bus driver.
Rizzuto was the first to be identified. He is survived by a younger brother.
He was on his honeymoon
Croatian authorities confirmed that a Croatian woman in her early twenties also died after the accident, and that another Croatian citizen was seriously injured. according to index We are talking about newlyweds Antonella and Marko Baković.
The two, who are from Split, were reportedly honeymooning together when the incident occurred. La Repubblica newspaper and Croatian media wrote that the 24-year-old was six months pregnant.
The husband survived the accident, but was taken to hospital with serious injuries. on x/twitter Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic expressed his condolences to the victims and their relatives.
The other dead included nine people from war-torn Ukraine, including three 30-year-old women who were on a holiday trip together. The others are from Romania, Germany, Portugal, South Africa and Croatia. The Foreign Ministry stated that there should not be any Norwegians on the bus.
Several minors
The tragic accident also claimed the lives of several children, including an 11-year-old girl and an infant aged about 18 months. Meanwhile, four children lost their parents, and several children were injured, La Repubblica wrote.
15 people were seriously injured when the bus went off the bridge. In different hospitals, many people are now fighting for their lives. The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said on Tuesday that a three-year-old girl had suffered serious burns.
The Veneto regional government called for three days of national mourning as a result of the accident. Flags are flown at half-mast throughout the area.
– It is a time of mourning for everyone, a time of silence, says Michele De Bari, managing director of Venice, to the news agency Forget.
The bus was carrying about 40 tourists when it collided with a fence, exited a bridge and landed near a railway line. Pictures and videos showed a bus with smoke rising on its side under a bridge, and a large number of emergency services working at the scene.
– A horrific scene, there are no words, wrote the city’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro on X/Twitter.
The bus was removed from the scene on Wednesday. Local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.
“Coffee trailblazer. Certified pop culture lover. Infuriatingly humble gamer.”
